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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 2, Bessie states that the South African blacks have been stripped bare of what?

2. Who was the great leader of Botswana that protected it's people?

3. What kind of large mine was discovered in Africa after independence?

4. According to Bessie, revolutionary movements are composed of people living with what?

5. In Chapter 2, what person made Bessie's natural hatred of the white man ebb?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "A Note on Rain Clouds," what does Bessie state is thwarting young, idealistic, black men and their ideals?

2. In "Notes on Novels," why is Bessie having difficulty writing about her years in South Africa?

3. In "God and The Underdog," what does Bessie feel fuels revolutions?

4. Why was it so difficult for Bessie to deal with South Africa creatively?

5. Why was Bessie able to write in Botswana rather than South Africa?

6. In the conclusion of Chapter 2, how does Bessie summarize her life experiences?

7. Why according to Bessie has Botswana survived by "sheer luck and unexpected good fortune"?

8. How does Bessie describe the world that a black South African is born into?

9. What was Bessie's life like during the two years that she lived in the refugee community in northern Botswana?

10. In Chapter 2, why is the friendship between Bessie and the American woman painful?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Natives Land Act of 1913 deeply affected the lives of the South African blacks. What was the purpose of the Act? What did the shortage of labor at the mines have to do with the passing of the Act? What were the consequences for whites, who allowed the blacks access to water or grazing land? What, do you think, was the main effect on the psyche of the one million black people affected by the passing of this Act?

Essay Topic 2

After reading "A Woman Alone," what are your views on oppression? How does it begin? What is it based on? Does it spiral out of control or is it a deliberate action? How do events in South Africa since he 1990s seem compared to the hopes of the previously oppressed people?

Essay Topic 3

The artist, Gladys Mgudlandlu, was extremely popular in South Africa because of her escapism theory. Why does Bessie refer to her as "the exuberant innocent"? Does she think of her and her escapism theory as naïve? Does she see it as not wanting to deal with real issues? Do you think Bessie thought it was wrong of her to encourage the black South Africans to just "sit back and let God deal with it"? Was this just offering them a good excuse to do nothing about their situation? If there was no oppression, do you think that this artist would have been as popular?

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